Crushing Tuesdays
Because life's too short to live for the weekends
“Hey, how was your weekend?”
“Not long enough, but hey, we’re one day closer to Friday, am I right?!”
“What’s going on, man?”
“Livin’ the dream!”
Sound familiar?
As someone who worked at a Fortune 50 company for five years, I grew tired of the toxic water cooler talk. In my experience, the disingenuous chatter existed only to fill a few awkward seconds before my next dose of caffeine hit my bloodstream, temporarily numbing me from a soulless existence.
During a recent long-lunch weekday hike with a friend, I felt free, careless, and childlike. “Why can’t this be everyday?” I wondered, savoring the moment. Invigorated and refreshed after moving my body in nature, I went back to my desk more motivated and productive; however, quickly wanted to get outside again to escape, explore, and play.
“What are you optimizing for?” is a question I’ve been asking myself recently. When I moved from Philly to Denver, it was to get closer to the mountains, even though it meant living on the other side of the country from my family. When I moved from Denver to Boulder, it was for smooth roads to ride my bike and easy trail access, even though it meant a longer commute to my office in the city. Now that I’m used to this speed and grade on the hedonic treadmill, I’m asking myself this question again. Now the answer is to crush Tuesdays (or any weekday).
Are your Tuesdays good? Do you enjoy them? Life is a series of Tuesdays, over and over, until we die. So let’s get good at crushing Tuesdays because life’s too short to live for weekends.
The above story was inspired by Tim Urban on the Tim Ferriss Show and Modern Wisdom. I wrote it the day before I left my finance job in March.
I want to make it clear that I’m grateful for my experience in Corporate America, especially at the world’s largest bank. Working at a top financial firm shaped who I am and made me realize what I didn’t want to do, which is just as valuable as realizing what I want to do. Process of elimination. Addition by subtraction.
I was one of few people in my social circle that stayed with the same company for multiple years post-grad. Sure, you could applaud my loyalty, but the way I see it, I was too scared to jump ship. I was comfortable. Hell, I was complacent and no longer being challenged. Auto-pilot. My fraternity brother Cam used to tell me growth and comfort cannot coexist. Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.
Fast-forward to today - I don’t expect to stay on my current path forever. Evolution prohibits it. I’m still scared of change, but I at least intellectually understand that I’ll never truly know what’s on the other side of doors without opening them. You can try to peek, you can try to guess, but you might get hit in the face in the process. It’s going to be messy either way. Sometimes it’s best to just kick the damn thing down.
It’s not easy to walk away from something that has become a part of your identity, a craft you’ve honed over multiple years. Especially in those moments of self-doubt and pessimism, surround yourself with people who believe in you. Give yourself permission to transcend. Be open to possibility. Trust that there are greater things beyond the horizon.
As my men’s coach Taylor says, your current purpose informs your future purpose. You don’t need to have all the dots connected right now. You just need to see the first one. The ironic tragedy is that life has to be lived forward but only makes sense in reverse.
Love this perspective! "Are your Tuesdays good?" Thanks for sharing Adam.